NHS only gains one ‘full-time’ GP for every two trainees, report finds

The NHS has to train two GPs to produce one full-time family doctor because so many have started to work part-time, new research reveals.

The finding helps explain why GP surgeries are still struggling to give patients appointments as quickly as they would like, despite growing numbers of doctors training to become a GP.

The disclosure is contained in a report by the Nuffield Trust health thinktank that lays bare the large number of nurses, midwives and doctors who quit during their training or early in their careers.

“These high dropout rates are in nobody’s interest,” said Dr Billy Palmer, a senior fellow at the thinktank and co-author of the report. “They’re wasteful for the taxpayer, often distressing for the students and staff who leave, stressful for the staff left behind, and ultimately erode the NHS’s ability to deliver safe and high-quality care.”

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Source: The Guardian, 28 September 2023